Book and CD Play-Along Set!

For Banjo, Guitar and Violin

Includes piano score (with chord symbols), guitar and tenor banjo chord diagrams.

Here's how BackUp Trax works:  You play along with the tape, read the music and learn melodies and etudes to 16 of the most popular tunes in the traditional jazz and Dixieland repertoire.  Then practice improvising and soloing!  

First you'll hear the tune's melody with just guitar backup, at a speed slow enough for beginners.   Next you'll hear the melody once again, this time with the whole band, at regular speed. After that, the band plays several choruses of the tune and you supply the melody or solo. You can repeat a song at either speed, as many times as you wish, perfecting phrases, melodies, and solos in a band context.  

Beginners can practice basic skills, while more advanced players can hone their improvisation chops, both at their own individual learning rates.

Listen to "Kent's Blues"      Rehearsal  [925 KB]     Full Band  [1629KB]

TRADITIONAL JAZZ & DIXIELAND

These are to 16 pieces carefully chosen to represent a variety of tunes and keys encountered in the trad repertoire.  You'll hear them all in their classic format:  a hot rhythm section with Piano, Guitar/Banjo, Drums, Tuba/Bass, plus Cornet leads.  They're sure to inspire you to play your best.

The set includes many of the "must know" standards beginners will want to learn like St. James Infirmary, Just A Closer Walk With Thee, Bill Bailey, When The Saints Go Marching In, and more - tunes that you'll hear wherever traditional jazz is played.  

Those of you who are advanced players will be challenged by the more intricate chord progressions and new etudes like Hoosier Stomp, Royal Rhythm, and Three Hits and a Miss, which are based on popular standards from the era.

By learning to play melodies and solo over changes in this generic form, you'll give yourself a great head-start toward becoming a jazz improvisor.

Split-track has all tunes at slow and regular speeds with melodies, and allows you to hear just rhythm, just lead or both.   

The pieces for this book were carefully chosen to represent a variety of keys and types of tunes encountered in the swing and jazz repertoire.  You'll play fast and slow blues, minor blues, "rhythm changes" tunes, ballads, cycles of fifths, "ii-V-I" tunes and more. These same progressions recur again and again in pop, swing, and jazz.  By learning to play melodies and solo over them in this generic form, you will give yourself a great head start toward becoming a swing & jazz player. You can also use these melodies as solos on similar standard tunes.
                                                Dix Bruce

Paperback 8 3/4 x 11 3/4 40 pages Discography CD included